Crisis? What crisis? Between old routines and forced innovation: The case of the energy crisis

Abstract

The article is part of a broad stream of social research devoted to energy security. The empirical basis of the article is a collection of 40 individual in-depth interviews, designed to gather qualitative data on (i) the reception of the energy crisis and (ii) the tactics and strategies for dealing with its manifestations. By analysing the efforts to downplay the magnitude and negative consequences of the energy crisis, as well as the tactics and strategies for dealing with its manifestations, the article seeks to answer the question of their function. Among these strategies, particular attention is given to the denial or minimization of the crisis. In the article, this strategy is referred to as reverse moral panic. On the one hand, the strategy promotes passive attitudes; on the other, it stabilizes the collective order. The article concludes with a set of interpretative tropes, which are an attempt to identify the key reasons for denying the energy crisis. Among them is the hypothesis that the current energy crisis is perceived as a ‘slow disaster’, which, unlike natural disasters or wars, has a low mobilizing potential.